God's Rest

Introduction

As usual this paper found its ‘Genesis’ in one of my naïve but soul-searching questions: 'Why did God need to rest on the 7th day if He lives outside time (as per my Time paper)?'

Let us have a look at the original scripture that tells us of God’s resting:

1 And the heavens and the earth were finished, and all the host of them.
2 And on the seventh day God finished his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made.
3 And God blessed the seventh day, and hallowed it; because that in it he rested from all his work which God had created and made.
4 These are the generations of the heavens and of the earth when they were created, in the day that Jehovah God made earth and heaven. (Genesis 2 ASV)

The first six days represented the six epochs during which God created the known universe including time, radiation and matter together with all the lifeforms that we find on the Earth (check out my Genesis 1 paper?). So, what does the seventh day represent? After the first six days of creation, God had created a self-sustaining universe complete with its lifeforms that were all also capable self-sustaining creatures and plant-forms that could procreate and reproduce themselves without further intervention of God’s creative effort. I would argue therefore that the seventh day is the seventh epoch that started upon God’s completed creation of a self-sustaining universe. He rested, not because He was tired but because His work in creating the known universe was complete. It could now look after itself (more likely it ‘should be able to’!).

So, rather than resting, I imagine God decided it was time to sort out His angelic children and monitor what was going on in His Earthly realm. The 7th day of God’s rest would therefore represent the 7,000-year epoch that was made up to follow from the creation of Adam, followed by the 6,000 year Earthly rule of Satan and then by Jesus’ rule of the 1,000 years of God’s Kingdom. For the full detail on this check out the True Bible Code website at: Introduction 23 - Satan is the ruler of this system of things.

Mankind’s Labour

While God does not get tired, and lives outside of time anyway, this is not the case for mankind. We both get tired and live within the confines of time. The main result of Adam and Eve’s sinning in Eden was to remove mankind from that paradisical Garden and ensure that we get anything other than rest in this life as a result of God’s curse upon mankind:

17 And unto Adam he said, Because thou hast hearkened unto the voice of thy wife, and hast eaten of the tree, of which I commanded thee, saying, Thou shalt not eat of it: cursed is the ground for thy sake; in toil shalt thou eat of it all the days of thy life;
18 thorns also and thistles shall it bring forth to thee; and thou shalt eat the herb of the field;
19 in the sweat of thy face shalt thou eat bread, till thou return unto the ground; for out of it wast thou taken: for dust thou art, and unto dust shalt thou return. (Genesis 3 ASV)

Confirmation of man’s load in life was provided by Lamech, Noah’s father, who prophesied that his son would bring comfort from this curse:

29 And he called his name Noah, saying, This one shall comfort us concerning our work and the toil of our hands because of the ground which the Lord has cursed. (Genesis 5 GLT)

This prophecy was fulfilled after the flood when God blessed the Earth because of Noah. One can only imagine that working the land was even harder in the days prior to Noah’s intervention than it is today:

20 And Noah builded an altar unto Jehovah, and took of every clean beast, and of every clean bird, and offered burnt-offerings on the altar.
21 And Jehovah smelled the sweet savor; and Jehovah said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man's sake, for that the imagination of man's heart is evil from his youth; neither will I again smite any more everything living, as I have done. (Genesis 8 ASV)

Even after Noah’s blessing, the patriarch’s themselves were still subject to a lessened version of man’s labour curse as recounted briefly by this encounter between Jacob and his employer and father-in-law, Laban:

41 Thus have I been twenty years in thy house; I served thee fourteen years for thy two daughters, and six years for thy cattle: and thou hast changed my wages ten times.
42 Except the God of my father, the God of Abraham, and the fear of Isaac, had been with me, surely thou hadst sent me away now empty. God hath seen mine affliction and the labour of my hands, and rebuked [thee] yesternight. (Genesis 31 KJV)

This was broadened out in later generations across the whole of the nation of Israel as illustrated by their enforced servitude at the hands of the Egyptians:

11 Therefore they did set over them taskmasters to afflict them with their burdens. And they built for Pharaoh treasure cities, Pithom and Raamses.
12 But the more they afflicted them, the more they multiplied and grew. And they were grieved because of the children of Israel.
13 And the Egyptians made the children of Israel to serve with rigour:
14 And they made their lives bitter with hard bondage, in morter, and in brick, and in all manner of service in the field: all their service, wherein they made them serve, [was] with rigour. (Exodus 1 KJV)

This gave rise to God’s original covenant with the Children of Israel. Whilst it did not remove work from mankind, it certainly lessened the load and made their work fruitful and for their own benefit:

3 If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them;
4 then I will give your rains in their season, and the land shall yield its increase, and the trees of the field shall yield their fruit.
5 And your threshing shall reach unto the vintage, and the vintage shall reach unto the sowing time; and ye shall eat your bread to the full, and dwell in your land safely. (Leviticus 26 ASV)

13 I am Jehovah your God, who brought you forth out of the land of Egypt, that ye should not be their bondmen; and I have broken the bars of your yoke, and made you go upright. (Leviticus 26 ASV)

After the wilderness generation had passed, this covenant of ‘rest’ was given as a reminder by Joshua to the Children of Israel upon their entry into the promised land:

13 Remember the word which Moses the servant of Jehovah commanded you, saying, Jehovah your God giveth you rest, and will give you this land. (Joshua 1 ASV)

Sabbath

It is noteworthy that, when God created the heavenly bodies (Genesis 1 paper) this, amongst other things, enabled man to measure time on a daily, weekly, monthly, annual and seasonal basis. The weekly cycle of Sabbaths is mentioned by Isaiah, together with the phases of the moon to demonstrate the passage of time. While God is only resting for one day, man needs his day of rest on a regular weekly basis:

23 And it shall come to pass, that from one new moon to another, and from one sabbath to another, shall all flesh come to worship before me, saith Jehovah. (Isaiah 66 ASV)

So given that man needed his rest, God used His rest day as the archetypal day of rest for mankind under His Law as provided to Moses. Given the frequency that the Sabbath day appears in the Law, I think this gives us a sense of the importance that God places upon it:

8 Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
9 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
10 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates:
11 for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, the sea, and all that in them is, and rested the seventh day: wherefore Jehovah blessed the sabbath day, and hallowed it. (Exodus 20 ASV)

13 Speak thou also unto the children of Israel, saying, Verily ye shall keep my sabbaths: for it is a sign between me and you throughout your generations; that ye may know that I am Jehovah who sanctifieth you.
14 Ye shall keep the sabbath therefore; for it is holy unto you: every one that profaneth it shall surely be put to death; for whosoever doeth any work therein, that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
15 Six days shall work be done, but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, holy to Jehovah: whosoever doeth any work on the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.
16 Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the sabbath, to observe the sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant.
17 It is a sign between me and the children of Israel for ever: for in six days Jehovah made heaven and earth, and on the seventh day he rested, and was refreshed. (Exodus 31 ASV)

3 Six days shall work be done: but on the seventh day is a sabbath of solemn rest, a holy convocation; ye shall do no manner of work: it is a sabbath unto Jehovah in all your dwellings. (Leviticus 23 ASV)

2 Ye shall keep my sabbaths, and reverence my sanctuary: I am Jehovah. (Leviticus 26 ASV)

12 Observe the sabbath day, to keep it holy, as Jehovah thy God commanded thee.
13 Six days shalt thou labor, and do all thy work;
14 but the seventh day is a sabbath unto Jehovah thy God: [in it] thou shalt not do any work, thou, nor thy son, nor thy daughter, nor thy man-servant, nor thy maid-servant, nor thine ox, nor thine ass, nor any of thy cattle, nor thy stranger that is within thy gates; that thy man-servant and thy maid-servant may rest as well as thou.
15 And thou shalt remember that thou wast a servant in the land of Egypt, and Jehovah thy God brought thee out thence by a mighty hand and by an outstretched arm: therefore Jehovah thy God commanded thee to keep the sabbath day. (Deuteronomy 5 ASV)

In the wilderness, as a specific example of keeping the Sabbath rest, the Children of Israel were required to collect the manna provided by Jehovah only on six days of the week. On the sixth day they were to collect twice as much so they would have enough to eat on the seventh day, without gathering Manna on the Sabbath. God did not make the manna available to them on the Sabbath to effectively enforce their rest day:

22 And it came to pass, that on the sixth day they gathered twice as much bread, two omers for each one: and all the rulers of the congregation came and told Moses.
23 And he said unto them, This is that which Jehovah hath spoken, Tomorrow is a solemn rest, a holy sabbath unto Jehovah: bake that which ye will bake, and boil that which ye will boil; and all that remaineth over lay up for you to be kept until the morning.
24 And they laid it up till the morning, as Moses bade: and it did not become foul, neither was there any worm therein.
25 And Moses said, Eat that to-day; for to-day is a sabbath unto Jehovah: to-day ye shall not find it in the field.
26 Six days ye shall gather it; but on the seventh day is the sabbath, in it there shall be none.
27 And it came to pass on the seventh day, that there went out some of the people to gather, and they found none.
28 And Jehovah said unto Moses, How long refuse ye to keep my commandments and my laws?
29 See, for that Jehovah hath given you the sabbath, therefore he giveth you on the sixth day the bread of two days; abide ye every man in his place, let no man go out of his place on the seventh day.
30 So the people rested on the seventh day. (Exodus 16 ASV)

This idea of the weekly Sabbath was also extended to a seven year cycle to give the land and the people an additional annual period of rest during which they could live off the produce in their storehouses. Even today, good farming technique will allow the land to lie fallow for an agricultural cycle to enable the land to recover (check out: https://www.gardeningknowhow.com/garden-how-to/soil-fertilizers/what-is-fallow-ground.htm). This was another reminder of God’s day of rest:

1 And Jehovah spake unto Moses in mount Sinai, saying,
2 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, When ye come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath unto Jehovah.
3 Six years thou shalt sow thy field, and six years thou shalt prune thy vineyard, and gather in the fruits thereof;
4 but in the seventh year shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath unto Jehovah: thou shalt neither sow thy field, nor prune thy vineyard.
5 That which groweth of itself of thy harvest thou shalt not reap, and the grapes of thy undressed vine thou shalt not gather: it shall be a year of solemn rest for the land. (Leviticus 25 ASV)

To further emphasise the importance to God of the notion of seven periods of time, He also proclaimed the celebrating of the Jubilee after seven sevens of years whereby a further resting of land and people was to take place every 50 years:

8 And thou shalt number seven sabbaths of years unto thee, seven times seven years; and there shall be unto thee the days of seven sabbaths of years, even forty and nine years.
9 Then shalt thou send abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month; in the day of atonement shall ye send abroad the trumpet throughout all your land.
10 And ye shall hallow the fiftieth year, and proclaim liberty throughout the land unto all the inhabitants thereof: it shall be a jubilee unto you; and ye shall return every man unto his possession, and ye shall return every man unto his family.
11 A jubilee shall that fiftieth year be unto you: ye shall not sow, neither reap that which groweth of itself in it, nor gather [the grapes] in it of the undressed vines.
12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy unto you: ye shall eat the increase thereof out of the field. (Leviticus 25 ASV)

Despite being God’s chosen people, the Children of Israel still turned away from God. They needed reminding by the Prophets that keeping the Sabbath was for their own good and was one way to keep faith with their creator if they were to avoid God’s vengeance:

12 Moreover also I gave them my sabbaths, to be a sign between me and them, that they might know that I am Jehovah that sanctifieth them.
13 But the house of Israel rebelled against me in the wilderness: they walked not in my statutes, and they rejected mine ordinances, which if a man keep, he shall live in them; and my sabbaths they greatly profaned. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them in the wilderness, to consume them. (Ezekiel 20 ASV)

13 If thou turn away thy foot from the sabbath, from doing thy pleasure on my holy day; and call the sabbath a delight, [and] the holy of Jehovah honorable; and shalt honor it, not doing thine own ways, nor finding thine own pleasure, nor speaking [thine own] words:
14 then shalt thou delight thyself in Jehovah; and I will make thee to ride upon the high places of the earth; and I will feed thee with the heritage of Jacob thy father: for the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken it. (Isaiah 58 ASV)

21 Thus saith Jehovah, Take heed to yourselves, and bear no burden on the sabbath day, nor bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem;
22 neither carry forth a burden out of your houses on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work: but hallow ye the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. (Jeremiah 17 ASV)

Nevertheless, the children of Israel rebelled against God’s ordinances, the keeping of the Sabbath being portrayed as a fundamental part of God’s covenant with them:

23 But they hearkened not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
24 And it shall come to pass, if ye diligently hearken unto me, saith Jehovah, to bring in no burden through the gates of this city on the sabbath day, but to hallow the sabbath day, to do no work therein;
25 then shall there enter in by the gates of this city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and this city shall remain for ever.
26 And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the places round about Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the lowland, and from the hill-country, and from the South, bringing burnt-offerings, and sacrifices, and meal-offerings, and frankincense, and bringing [sacrifices of] thanksgiving, unto the house of Jehovah.
27 But if ye will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and not to bear a burden and enter in at the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day; then will I kindle a fire in the gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, and it shall not be quenched. (Jeremiah 17 ASV)

16 because they despised My judgments, and they did not walk in My statutes, and they profaned My sabbaths; for their heart went after their idols.
17 And My eye spared them, from destroying them, and I did not make an end of them in the wilderness.
18 But I said to their sons in the wilderness, Do not walk in the statutes of your fathers and do not keep their judgments, and do not defile yourselves with their idols.
19 I [am] Jehovah your God, walk in My statutes, and keep My judgments, and do them.
20 And keep My sabbaths holy, and they shall be a sign between Me and you, that you may know that I [am] Jehovah your God.
21 But the sons rebelled against Me. They did not walk in My statutes, and they did not keep My judgments, to do them, which [if] a man does them, he shall live by them. They profaned My sabbaths. Then I said [I] would pour out My fury on them, to fulfill My anger against them in the wilderness.
22 But I withdrew My hand and acted for My name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the eyes of the nations, from whom I brought them out in their eyes.
23 And I lifted up My hand to them in the wilderness, to scatter them among the nations and sow them among the lands,
24 because they had not done My judgments and had despised My statutes and had profaned My sabbaths. And their eyes were after their fathers' idols. (Ezekiel 20 GLT)

There is some irony from God in His punishment on Israel as a result of not keeping His statutes. He allowed the Chaldeans to attack Israel and keep those left alive in servitude thereby denying them their resting in the Sabbath. Furthermore, by removing them from their land, this enabled the Land Sabbath to be kept since they were no longer able to work on their own land during the period of their captivity:

20 And them that had escaped from the sword carried he away to Babylon; and they were servants to him and his sons until the reign of the kingdom of Persia:
21 to fulfil the word of Jehovah by the mouth of Jeremiah, until the land had enjoyed its sabbaths: [for] as long as it lay desolate it kept sabbath, to fulfil threescore and ten years. (2 Chronicles 36 ASV)

Some years after this captive time, Nehemiah saw that the Children of Israel were still not keeping God’s covenant with especial mention of the sanctity of the Sabbath. This theme of the Sabbath is ever-present in the Old Testament scriptures as a constant reminder of its importance to God and to mankind:

15 In those days I saw in Judah ones treading wine presses on the Sabbath, and bringing in sheaves and loading asses; and also wine, grapes, and figs, and all burdens, which they brought into Jerusalem on the Sabbath day. And I testified [ against them] on the day they sold food.
16 Men of Tyre also lived in it, who brought fish and all wares, and were selling on the Sabbath to the sons of Judah, even in Jerusalem.
17 And I contended with the nobles of Judah and said to them, What [is] this evil thing that you do, defiling the Sabbath day?
18 Did not your fathers do this, and did not our God bring all this evil on us and on this city? Yet you bring more wrath on Israel by defiling the Sabbath.
19 And it happened, when the gates of Jerusalem began to be dark before the Sabbath, I commanded that the gates should be shut, and commanded that they should not be opened until after the Sabbath. And I stationed [some] of my servants at the gates, so that there should be no burden brought in on the Sabbath day.
20 And the merchants and sellers of all the wares stayed the night outside Jerusalem once or twice.
21 Then I testified against them and said to them, Why are you staying around the wall? If you do [it] again, I will send a hand against you. From that time they did not come on the Sabbath.
22 And I said to the Levites that they should be cleansing themselves, and they should come guarding the gates, to sanctify the Sabbath day. O my God, remember me for this also and spare me according to the greatness of Your mercy. (Nehemiah 13 GLT)

Now, prior to these scriptures, it was clear that Jehovah was serious about the Israelites keeping their rest day. Going back to the scriptures previously quoted containing the Law, we can recall that breaking the Sabbath was a capital offence. Let us look at a specific example:

32 And while the children of Israel were in the wilderness, they found a man gathering sticks upon the sabbath day.
33 And they that found him gathering sticks brought him unto Moses and Aaron, and unto all the congregation.
34 And they put him in ward, because it had not been declared what should be done to him.
35 And Jehovah said unto Moses, The man shall surely be put to death: all the congregation shall stone him with stones without the camp.
36 And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him to death with stones; as Jehovah commanded Moses. (Numbers 15 ASV)

So, was God so angry about the man collecting sticks on the Sabbath, the day when he should have been resting? I think not. Whilst not wishing to downgrade the importance of the keeping of the Sabbath as a fundamental part of God’s covenant with the Children of Israel, if one looks at the previous verses, one can see that the real issue was not the breaking of the Sabbath itself so much as deliberately going against the Word of God;

28 And the priest shall make atonement for the soul that erreth, when he sinneth unwittingly, before Jehovah, to make atonement for him; and he shall be forgiven.
29 Ye shall have one law for him that doeth aught unwittingly, for him that is home-born among the children of Israel, and for the stranger that sojourneth among them.
30 But the soul that doeth aught with a high hand, whether he be home-born or a sojourner, the same blasphemeth Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from among his people.
31 Because he hath despised the word of Jehovah, and hath broken his commandment, that soul shall utterly be cut off; his iniquity shall be upon him. (Numbers 15 ASV)

This is reflected on a grander scale for the whole of God’s people in their revolting against all of God’s statutes. Whilst the Sabbath was an important symbol, it was one among several that God required to be kept. One would have thought that the offer of a day of rest would have been accepted gratefully. Who does not look forward to the weekend after a week's work?

19 I am Jehovah your God: walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them;
20 and hallow my sabbaths; and they shall be a sign between me and you, that ye may know that I am Jehovah your God.
21 But the children rebelled against me; they walked not in my statutes, neither kept mine ordinances to do them, which if a man do, he shall live in them; they profaned my sabbaths. Then I said I would pour out my wrath upon them, to accomplish my anger against them in the wilderness.
22 Nevertheless I withdrew my hand, and wrought for my name's sake, that it should not be profaned in the sight of the nations, in whose sight I brought them forth.
23 Moreover I sware unto them in the wilderness, that I would scatter them among the nations, and disperse them through the countries;
24 because they had not executed mine ordinances, but had rejected my statutes, and had profaned my sabbaths, and their eyes were after their fathers' idols. (Ezekiel 20 ASV)

Isaiah references the Sabbath specifically in the context of God’s covenant with Israel and the bringing in of all of the ‘outcasts’ of Israel into that covenant. This once again emphasises the importance of keeping the Sabbath as well being an early reference to bringing all men into God’s people:

1 Thus saith Jehovah, Keep ye justice, and do righteousness; for my salvation is near to come, and my righteousness to be revealed.
2 Blessed is the man that doeth this, and the son of man that holdeth it fast; that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and keepeth his hand from doing any evil.
3 Neither let the foreigner, that hath joined himself to Jehovah, speak, saying, Jehovah will surely separate me from his people; neither let the eunuch say, Behold, I am a dry tree.
4 For thus saith Jehovah of the eunuchs that keep my sabbaths, and choose the things that please me, and hold fast my covenant:
5 Unto them will I give in my house and within my walls a memorial and a name better than of sons and of daughters; I will give them an everlasting name, that shall not be cut off.
6 Also the foreigners that join themselves to Jehovah, to minister unto him, and to love the name of Jehovah, to be his servants, every one that keepeth the sabbath from profaning it, and holdeth fast my covenant;
7 even them will I bring to my holy mountain, and make them joyful in my house of prayer: their burnt-offerings and their sacrifices shall be accepted upon mine altar; for my house shall be called a house of prayer for all peoples.
8 The Lord Jehovah, who gathereth the outcasts of Israel, saith, Yet will I gather [others] to him, besides his own that are gathered. (Isaiah 56 ASV)

The Sabbath Revisited

In supporting the Law of Moses, Jesus would stand up to read from the scriptures and teach in the synagogue in keeping with Jewish custom and practice for the Sabbath day:

16 And He came to Nazareth where He was brought up. And as was His custom, He went in on the day of the sabbaths, into the synagogue, and [He] stood up to read. (Luke 4 GLT)

31 And He went down to Capernaum, a city of Galilee. And He was teaching them [on] the sabbaths. (Luke 4 GLT)

Following in Christ’s example, Paul also used the Sabbath day to preach in the synagogues:

42 And when the Jews were gone out of the synagogue, the Gentiles besought that these words might be preached to them the next sabbath.
43 Now when the congregation was broken up, many of the Jews and religious proselytes followed Paul and Barnabas: who, speaking to them, persuaded them to continue in the grace of God.
44 And the next sabbath day came almost the whole city together to hear the word of God. (Acts 13 KJV)

1 Now when they had passed through Amphipolis and Apollonia, they came to Thessalonica, where was a synagogue of the Jews:
2 And Paul, as his manner was, went in unto them, and three sabbath days reasoned with them out of the scriptures, (Acts 17 KJV)

4 And he reasoned in the synagogue on every sabbath persuading both Jews and Greeks. (Acts 18 GLT)

However, Jesus’ ministry preached a somewhat different view of the Sabbath, effectively re-affirming that the sabbath was a rest day provision from God for the benefit of, and not a restriction upon, mankind:

23 And it happened, He went along through the grain fields in the sabbaths. And His disciples began to make way, plucking the heads [of grain].
24 And the Pharisees said to Him, Behold, why do they do that which is not lawful on the sabbaths?
25 And He said to them, Did you never read what David did when he had need and hungered, he and those with him,
26 how he entered the house of God in [the days of] Abiathar the high priest, and ate the Loaves of the Presentation, which it is not lawful to eat, except for the priests, and [he] even gave to those being with him?
27 And He said to them, The sabbath came into being for man's sake, not man for the sabbath's sake.
28 So then the Son of Man is Lord of the sabbath also. (Mark 2 GLT)

He also put this into practice by doing work to heal a disabled man on the Sabbath, thereby demonstrating that a loving act would not break the Law of keeping the Sabbath rest since love and mercy for one’s fellow man would reflect one’s love of God and God’s love of man:

10 And, behold, a man having [a] withered hand was there. And they asked Him, saying, Is it lawful to heal on the sabbaths? (that they might accuse Him).
11 But He said to them, What man of you will be who will have one sheep, and if this one fall into a pit on the sabbaths, will he not lay hold of it and raise [it] up?
12 How much more, then, does a man excel a sheep! So that it is lawful to do well on the sabbaths. (Matthew 12 GLT)

1 And he entered again into the synagogue; and there was a man there which had a withered hand.
2 And they watched him, whether he would heal him on the sabbath day; that they might accuse him.
3 And he saith unto the man which had the withered hand, Stand forth.
4 And he saith unto them, Is it lawful to do good on the sabbath days, or to do evil? to save life, or to kill? But they held their peace.
5 And when he had looked round about on them with anger, being grieved for the hardness of their hearts, he saith unto the man, Stretch forth thine hand. And he stretched [it] out: and his hand was restored whole as the other. (Mark 3 KJV)

Likewise, according to the Gospel of Luke:

10 And He was teaching in one of the synagogues on [one of] the sabbaths.
11 And, behold, there was a woman having a spirit of infirmity eighteen years, and was bent together and was not able to be completely erect.
12 And seeing her, Jesus called [her] near and said to her, Woman, you have been freed from your infirmity.
13 And He laid hands on her. And instantly she was made erect and glorified God.
14 But answering, being angry that Jesus healed on the sabbath, the synagogue ruler said to the crowd, There are six days in which it is right to work. Therefore, coming in these, be healed, and not on the sabbath day.
15 Then the Lord answered him and said, Hypocrite! Each one of you on the sabbath, does he not untie his ox or ass from the manger, and leading [it] away, give [it] drink?
16 And this one being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan has bound, lo, eighteen years, ought [she] not to be freed from this bond on the sabbath day? (Luke 13 GLT)

After one of His Sabbath acts of healing, Jesus commented on the fact that circumcisions were allowed on the Sabbath since they were part of the Patriarchs’ covenant prior to the Law of Moses coming into effect. I must admit however, as we have seen previously, that the Sabbath was also established prior to the Law of Moses. Circumcision, arguably, makes a man less than whole; is this more righteous than making a disabled man whole again? Given the question from Jesus, the True Bible Code ([C13a] - The Question Answering Principle) would argue that both acts are acceptable on the Sabbath:

22 Moses therefore gave unto you circumcision; (not because it is of Moses, but of the fathers;) and ye on the sabbath day circumcise a man.
23 If a man on the sabbath day receive circumcision, that the law of Moses should not be broken; are ye angry at me, because I have made a man every whit whole on the sabbath day? (John 7 KJV)

Interestingly, Jesus also confirmed that His Father Jehovah was not resting, as we reasoned earlier, but was still working on His Sabbath to support His ‘supposedly self-supporting’ creation:

16 So on this account the Jews went persecuting Jesus, because he was doing these things during Sabbath.
17 But he answered them: My Father has kept working until now, and I keep working. (John 5 NWT)

Paul, in his letter to the congregation at Colossus, confirms that the Hebrew Law, including the keeping of the Sabbath day, is the physical manifestation of the spiritual reality to come, a comparison between the two Testaments that we have seen in previous JLW papers:

16 Let no man therefore judge you in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holyday, or of the new moon, or of the sabbath [days]:
17 Which are a shadow of things to come; but the body [is] of Christ. (Colossians 2 KJV)

Notwithstanding Paul’s latter comments, Jesus’ followers still rested on the Sabbath day before attempting to prepare His body in the tomb:

52 coming near to Pilate, this one asked [for] the body of Jesus.
53 And taking it down, he wrapped it in linen, and placed it in a quarried tomb, where no one was ever yet laid.
54 And it was Preparation Day, and a sabbath was coming on.
55 And having followed, also [the] women who were accompanying Him out of Galilee, watched the tomb, and how His body was placed.
56 And returning, [they] prepared spices and ointment. And indeed they rested [on] the sabbath, according to the commandment. (Luke 23 GLT)

So, the following of the Sabbath tradition is still mandated, even though the breaking of the Sabbath for righteous reasons is allowable.

God’s Rest

The concept of God’s rest was intimated initially by Isaiah who prophesied that it would be the prospective Messiah who would bring that final ‘day’s’ rest of the Kingdom to all mankind:

10 And it shall be in that day, the Root of Jesse stands as a banner of peoples; nations shall seek to Him; and His resting place shall be glory. (Isaiah 11 GLT)

In the Gospel of Matthew, Jesus tells His followers that He will give them rest from the burdens of this life again intimating the resting place in the Kingdom:

28 Come to Me, all those laboring and being burdened, and I will give you rest.
29 Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, because I am meek and lowly in heart, "and you will find rest to your souls." [Jer. 6:16]
30 For My yoke [is] easy, and My burden is light. (Matthew 11 GLT)

The rhetoric also changes in Paul’s letter to the Hebrew congregation from ‘Sabbath’ to God’s ‘rest’. Here we have a reprise of the sinful ways of the Children of Israel in the wilderness. Their reward being to miss out on the entering of the physical resting place of the promised land:

9 there where your fathers tempted Me, testing Me, and saw My works forty years.
10 Because of this, I was angry with that generation and said, They always go astray in heart; and they did not know My ways;
11 so I swore in My wrath, They shall not enter into My rest." [LXX-Psalm 94:7-11; MT-Psalm 95:7-11] (Hebrews 3 GLT)

Much of the following chapter, from that same epistle, continues on the theme of God’s rest in which Paul exhorts his Hebrew brothers to keep faith in Christ. This is to maintain the promise of God’s ultimate rest for mankind which was lost to many of their forebears in the wilderness:

1 Therefore, let us fear lest perhaps a promise having been left to enter into His rest, [that] any of you may seem to come short.
2 For, indeed, we have had the gospel preached [to us], even as they also; but the Word did not profit those hearing [it], not having been [mixed] with faith in the ones who heard.
3 For we, the ones believing, enter into the rest, even as He said, "As I swore in My wrath, they shall not enter into My rest," though the works had come into being from [the] foundation of the world. [LXX-Psa. 94:11; MT-Psa. 95:11]
4 For He has spoken somewhere about the seventh [day] this way, "And God rested from all His works in the seventh day." [Gen. 2:2]
5 And in this again, "They shall not enter into My rest." [MT-Psalm 95:11]
6 Therefore, since it remains [for] some to enter into it, and those who formerly had the gospel preached did not enter in on account of disobedience,
7 He again marks out a certain day, saying in David, Today (after so long a time, according as He has said), "Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your hearts." [MT-Psalm 95:7, 8]
8 For if Joshua gave them rest, then He would not have afterwards spoken about another day.
9 So, then, there remains a sabbath rest to the people of God.
10 For he entering into His rest, [he] himself also rested from his works, as God [had rested] from His own. [LXX-Psa. 95:11; Gen. 2:2]
11 Therefore, let us exert ourselves to enter into that rest, that not anyone fall in the same example of disobedience. (Hebrews 4 GLT)

I have used Green’s Literal Translation above to identify the Old Testament scriptures to which the New Testament refers as shown below:

16 So says Jehovah, Stand by the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where the good way [is], and walk in it; and you shall find rest for your souls. But they said, We will not walk [in it]. (Jeremiah 6 GLT)

10 Forty years long was I grieved with [this] generation, and said, It [is] a people that do err in their heart, and they have not known my ways:
11 Unto whom I sware in my wrath that they should not enter into my rest. (Psalms 95 KJV)

An End Times Prophecy

Then we have this cryptic verse from the Gospel of Matthew, referencing the Sabbath day in the context of the righteous ones’ escape from the Great Tribulation to come:

20 But pray ye that your flight be not in the winter, neither on the sabbath day:
21 For then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world to this time, no, nor ever shall be. (Matthew 24 KJV)

You will find the decoded understanding of this on the True Bible Code website at: [U151] - Revelation Decoded. This explicitly describes the greater meaning for this scripture for the end-times escape from this world of the 2NC Kings and Lords complete with the date. This is a very lengthy understanding so a search on the webpage for 'Sabbath' should enable a relatively swift access to the relevant small piece on the subject. As of the writing of this paper, I do not necessarily support the precise chronology presented there; whilst it presents a compelling argument, we have been here before with failed chronological predictions. However, it is clear that this scripture must be prescribing the date of such a deliverance which we will surely interpret correctly at the appropriate point in time, if we have not yet already done so. Amen.

Synopsis

God's rest on the seventh day of creation comes after the completion of His six day creation period where the seven days represent epochs. The seventh day is the six century period in which we are currently living and extends from Adam's creation until God's Kingdom comes.
Adam's sin caused God to curse the land to ensure that mankind's life during the seventh epoch required hard physical labour to survive and was, therefore, anything but restful.
After the flood, Noah's faithfulness towards God was rewarded with a lessening of the harshness of man's labour but labour was still needed to survive.
This was repeated on a larger scale when the Children of Israel showed faith in God and were rewarded with their release from their Egyptian bondage.
God's universal creation provided mankind with the ability to measure time. A major element of this was the seven-day weekly cycle following God's creation template. The seventh day was called the Sabbath and was strictly required by God as a rest day for the Children of Israel under the Law of Moses as a commemoration of God's creation.
This was extended further under the Law by dictating the requirement for a Land Sabbath every seven years followed by a Jubilee after seven periods of seven years. The land needed a rest to recover from its produce as did mankind.
When the Children of Israel rebelled against God's statutes, it was made clear that the breaking of the Sabbath was a major element of their sinning. As punishment, they were once again taken into captivity, this time by the Chaldeans, whereby forced labour was once again put upon them.
Jesus confirmed the importance of the Sabbath by attending the synagogue on the Sabbath and reading from the scriptures and teaching as did Paul after Christ's death.
However, Jesus also taught that to do righteous work on the Sabbath was also acceptable. God's mercy would always override God's Law, whilst not replacing it.
The Sabbath day of rest is the physical manifestation of the spiritual Kingdom to come. The Kingdom is God's rest for righteous mankind when man's hard toil will become a thing of the past.
The Sabbath is invoked in Matthew's Gospel to provide the precise chronology of when the earthly kings and lords of the Kingdom will escape from the current system of things at the time of the apocalypse.

Date of Publication: 28th November 2022

God’s Rest

Jewish Lords' Witness